Ellen Meloy’s first chapter from The Anthropology of Turquoise eloquently sandwiches interesting,
enriching theories of color between delicious slices of descriptive narrative.
At one moment you are imagining the colorful word around her, easily envisioned
due to our connection to her environment and unparalleled chromatic
description, and before you know it, reading spot-on cultural and historical
connections. The latter are what I thought most inspiring and memorable.
Kandinsky provides specific personal descriptions of colors.
“Orange is like a man, convinced of his own powers.”
“The power of profound meaning is blue, blue is concentric
motion.”
“Red rings inwardly with a determined and powerful
intensity. It glows in itself, naturedly, and does not distribute its vigor
aimlessly.”
Another reference Johann Wolfgang von Goethe provides more
food for thought.
“Colours are the deed and suffering of light.”
“The highest goal a man can achieve is amazement.”
To Goethe blue is “enchanting nothingness”
I particularly enjoyed The
Island of the Colorblind section. Imagining an entire society without color
is bizarre and makes me think back to The
Giver. How would these people respond to their first glimmer of brilliant
red?
How would I describe a general color in one or two short
sentences? Could I imagine a world completely devoid of color? Are some of my
greatest moments of amazement clearly associated with bold colors?
These are some of the questions I was asking myself while
reading.
What do you think?
Steve, you made a very excellent connection to one of my favorite books! In this book doesn't he begin to see red first because it is the highest frequency?
ReplyDeleteHow could one explain a color to someone who has never seen color? What about somebody who has never seen? Does someone who has never seen, dream in black and white? Or can the presence of a color still provide a feeling even though one cannot see it?
What then of black and white photographs? :)
Steve i like your abstract mind set within the matter, and especially the power of color within the mind itself. Questions like color as a being, feeling, or even a moment can really bring out some questions within practicing artist. I also enjoyed your connection to "The Giver", i love it, but who's to say the blind don't see an entirely different world, not bound by our rules of color concept, they could possible see amazing things we can't.
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